Festival: Battle for the Beaches

With the Palace Landers showing in small numbers, the people of Yamato so far have had it fairly easy. There's just been this nervous energy, with an occassional bout here and there. Yet, against all of that, people have still been enjoying their festival activities.

A small tent town has been erected to the north of Carmina Gadelica's Port, where groups have been particularly busy partying. There's largely-empty-bottles laying around all over the beach, with Adventurers making just a bit of a mess of the place while they're still on the beaches themselves. They're enjoying a sweet evening, with camp fires lit in a few spots. Drinks with their bodies. A few folk are dancing around the fire...

Only for a huge blast of ice to suddenly burst amidst on of the sides of the tent encampment, as a large casting of Ice Magic detonates near their position. Immediately, the area is hit with the normal in-combat chimlink outage. There's chaos, as people are not partied up or ready for anything. And before they know it, from within the dark, boats land with people bearing Red indicators above their heads, showing them as PvP aggressors. Many of them dressed differently, as the Palace Land attacks.

Rushing forward, and fanning out, their start occupying different parts of the encampment in what seems like a rather random strike at Yamato Adventurers! There's people breaking into tents, bringing large swords to bear, as others try to quickly make partiest amidst the chaos! But the Palace Landers have caught most of the Yamato-ans flat-footed. There's a volley of arrows that follow soon from further within the darkness - coming from the ocean itself. Presumably a ship that is hard to see amidst the night sky and the silhouettes cast by the large bonfires.

    Merek is of course here to party and relax, and when he notices that things are breaking into a fight while the Palace Lands attack the festival, he will stand up. Then he's drawing his twin blades while he calls to people, "PALACE LANDS ATTACKING! PREPARE TO DEFEND!" With that he will lift up a hand and takes the time to use his relic, the speed boosting the people that want to escape. "If you don't want to fight, flee now!" Then he's taking the time to charge into the fight!

Behind the surge of Palace Land attackers a figure walks at a disportionately casual pace to their frevor. A parasol rests upon one shoulder as she stoops down to pick up one of the empty bottles. Eyes it with a look of disgust. "Typical. Even here they let their self-destructive habits get the better of them." She flicks the bottle over her shoulder, swatting it with one of her four tails and sending it punching through the side of a tent. Which sends a few people hurrying out from the sudden shattering glass... and right into the mob of attackers. Daiyu smirks a little. "But it still served a purpose. Take them down." With the now free hand she opens a large fan, flicking it a few times. She seems to be more here giving instruction than engage directly in the raid. At least for the time being.

    Among the chaos of the marauding invaders, a small force stands out. A small group of soldiers in red uniforms sticking closely together. Archers and casters in their number launch attacks. Sword and spear wielders stand together to defend against counterattacks. They move forward as a group, switching roles as they reach a tent. Then, the casters and archers stand ready on guard while those wielding melee weapons go to work, hacking and stabbing their way through the occupants of the tent. One figure stands out even among this stand-out squad, a tall Salamander woman who takes point with a duelling sword, her armor almost ornamental in nature, more like the armor the archers wear than her fellow melee fighters.

    A few moments later they emerge, their status bars now red from PVP kills. The Salamander points and cries out a command, one lost in the chaos of battle. The group forms up once again, while the Salamander leading them drones off a rapid chant. A massive fireball streaks out, engulfing a group of defenders who were beginning to rally.

    It wasn't just a matter of fanning out , Shirin himself was sitting on a Peko who was wearing a cowboy hat. The sheriff was playing the calvary today looking for any strays to wrangle up. "Now now Daiyu, they have yet to see the error of their way. That is why we are here to enlighten them, " The jackal Cait Sith says to thin air as he looks at a pair of low level adventuers trying to flee and puts a crossbow bolt into one's leg causing them to fall. Raising his two small crossbows and leveling it at the fallen adventurers it appears in a moment there will be a duo being forced to sit out the rest of the fun for the next twenty four hours, without something happening to save them.

    Given how much of her time, recently, was swept up into her studies... Estelle was actually enjoying a chance to relax. Even if that has her doing some half-serious fire readings for people as requested. Her talents in Divining have been getting talked up of late, given her wanderings and some enthusiastic praise from certain parties.

    Still, for the most part she's just relaxing on a towel in the sand, trying to keep the grains from getting stuck in her tails. A parasol - her focus for the season - is pushed into the sand nearby to provide her some shade. It's... nice, being around people and being capable of proper focus again, as her silver gaze sweeps along the beach, taking in the social groups and the various festivities. A nice sign that life goes on, even as war looms.

    And her reading on that still has her... concerned, even if she knows she lacks the context to properly catagorize it. It's something she needs to talk to others about.

    And then the Palace Landers attack. It's unexpected, and unseen - not that she consulted the stars about her day, that is. It has her rising to her feet in short order, one hand pulling her parasol from the sand while the other brushes down her black sarong. It... is not the best outfit to be caught in a fight in, in any measure. Still, she looks around once more - though far more keenly this time. Seeking out the knots of conflict, the ebb and flow of the attack and defence.

    ... which has her staring at the other woman with a parasol, fox-tails waving behind her as she direct the offensive. Oh, and the dog-man nearby her. She considers that red name, and the matter of the fight around them. Her own set against her shoulder, the absent spin of its handle making its astral-themed canopy blur, she makes a careful approach. "I thought it was generally considered a poor affair, attacking in the midst of festivals?" She calls out to the two who seem to be in charge, trying to distract them from their duty and from the downed adventurer.

    Merek of course will look to the battlefield when he's used his relic to let people escape. The man walks along while he keeps the hood up, then he notices that Shirin is about to execute people. He calls upon the flame to his fist and feet while he comes around to punch and then levee a kick into the man if he can, "YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME!" The flames dance along the magic knight while he watches from the hood. It looks he is listed as an Adventurer on Inspect as well while he sweeps along into a stance to fight with that were fang.

Goldenblade is working here, at a wagon loaded with a slightly portable forge, notably including a modified bellows, and is working on something or other possibly to do with armor smithing, to judge from the fanciful plate armor she's got laid open on a bench. She is currently attempting to hammer a rivet through a piece of leather by which, she hopes, to render the joints of her suit of armor slightly more water resistant. Her last test was slightly successful, but her task is not complete. But she's here on site to reduce the time it takes to test her changes once they're made.

She has, it seems, slept since she was last seen, that debuff isn't present, though there is a lumpy pillow-like sack on the floor of the cart that suggests she naps there. Her hunger debuff is not as debuffy as it was several days ago, apparently the fish she caught on her last trial and the occasional passing player has convinced her to eat. Bathing has been skipped entirely, but she's in and out of the ocean fairly regularly so it's the ocean that's gotten stinky off her. This may or may not have inconvenienced the Palace Landers.

She's definitely out of it, and might or might not have noticed the Palace Landers' attack, but some mage saw the wagon as a target, and a fireball struck the forge directly. The forge shields her from the worse of the explosion, but the wagon is wrecked, upside down and the contents, including Goldenblade, scattered in the sand. She picks herself up, notices what's going on, and gets very upset. "Oh, no, you didn't," she grumbles, blades coming out, and a fiery aura forming around her. "Can't you see I'm /workin/ here?" she demands, and the hurting begins. Apparently Goldenblade was working there.

After the festivities not long ago, Mikage had done just as she had said, heading towards Alne. The city is relatively central to the island, and one of the better places to gather information and keep an eye on things. However, with more people, lander and Adventurer alike, taking advantage of the Festival, the Were Fang had chosen to play 'guard'. Not exactly an interesting job...

And then it got interesting...

"Shit." The girl starts with her usual colorful language when she is stressed, hopping off a nearby rock and putting a couple of fingers into her mouth to whistle, calling for her animal companion.

She and Haru seem to be closest to one of the boats coming ashore, "Rama will hold them off up close while I try to get into position for some ranged strikes." Miki informs the crafter. Then, raising her voice to anyone else still mulling about, "If you can't fight, get the fuck out of here, now!"

After that, Rama charges forward into the fray, the lynx trailing ice behind him as some of his companion's water magic has been gifted into his claws and teeth. Most people from the Palace Lands have never seen a lynx before. Maybe a fox-lynx, or a bear-lynx or even a turtle-lynx, but... a lynx? Well, one is getting right up in their faces at the moment.

This was supposed to just be a party on the beach. It wasn't supposed to be a fight. But Tenko, being who she is, always has her weapons and equipment on her, and is always in her were fang form. So when the ice hits, and she gets put into combat, she is quick to draw her blade.

No sooner after her blade is drawn does a fireball wash over her, and she is forced to quickly brush her clothes off to put out the flames. She gathers some of the flames around her blade, however, and then dashes forward, aiming for the salamander who seems to be leading the pack, though she'll probably slash her way through several other Palace Landers on her way.

Prophylaxis has not had too many opportunities to celebrate as he should have. The impending invasion of the Palace Lands has been... occupying his mind. Or rather, it has simply settled into the space previously taken up by his recently concluded strange mood like a particularly portly feline finally finding a box that fit its girth, unable to be dislodged without having your arms utterly shredded. But there is an opportunity now to spend a warm evening relaxing at the beachside, to relax off the long-accumulated fatigue burning at the back of his brain.

...And then an arrow damn near takes his head off. A moment later, a massive chunk of ice smashes into the beach, scattering celebrants and disrupting festivities. "They wouldn't," Prophylaxis snarls, his staff coming immediately to hand. He is...

...Wearing...

...

...that sure is a bright red fundoshi that this doctor is wearing.

"They /would./" Of course they would attack in the middle of a festival. To give their enemies no chance to relax, to fill every moment with fear and terror, that too is a useful tactic. Another arrow sails towards him, only to clatter uselessly against a swiftly summoned barrier. "Defend yourselves," Prophylaxis roars, a globe of flame materializing in his grasp. He winds up and piches it at a tight cluster of Palace Landers, the bolt exploding in a roiling wave of heat and light. "Capture them if you can. Kill them if you can't. I want them /here/ until we can extract everything we can from them!"

"If they bring war to Alne," the Doctor of Tolbana spits, "I would make them /know/ the severity of their mistake."

    Shirin is caught off guard with only a moment to jump away from the hot foot coming at him, its no where near enough as he is kicked aside and rolls across the ground. " Someone is very rude, just coming up and kicking someone without so much as a howdy do." Standing up he wipes the beach and off of his jacket and looks at Merek as a third eye appears on his forehead raising the two crossbows to point at Merek. " You have been found guilty of assaulting a peace officer of Rosenheim, you are here by sentenced to death." With that two synced shots are fired from the crossbows at high speeds towards Merek.

The voice speaking up gets a perk of a long ear, Daiyu turning her head towards the source.... and almost immeadiately dark eyes squint behind the spectacles perched on the bridge of her muzzle as she Inspects. First at Estelle in general. Then gaze up at the parasol. Then down to see the tails behind the woman. Almost immeadiately that gets her own to bristle slightly, angled out like a four-point star behind her. It's clearly a show of how many she has. "Tch. A kitsune. Figures I would come across one of you in this land eventually." She makes a show of shifting her parasol so it's on the opposite shoulder as the other foxlady. "You should be thanking us for the disruption. Look at the mess these frivilous fools are making with their frolicing because you allow them to run free and rampant."

She flicks the fan shut. Then flicks it open again, this time deploying a visibly sharp edge along the curve that's glimmering faintly. Almost like the ripples on the surface of water. "But if you think you've got the tails to stop me," In one smooth swift motion Daiyu flings her fan spinning like a charkam at Estelle! "come along and try."

The white haired artificer was working on clean up duty towards the end of the encampment. Haru wasn't one to drink heavily and a little bit of busy work is good for the mind. Very Zen! Of course the calm moments come to an end eventually. "I can fight," he is quick to react to the situation with Mikage. It is one that many have been tight-on-a-bowstring about. His priority is not to engage with the enemy, but to get as many people out as he can. Like at Seeker's Landing before, he doesn't expect that to go without needing to trade blows. "But only long enough to get these people out of here," he tells Mikage, holding to his beliefs.

It seems like a lukewarm sentiment until he draws out his summoning focus. It starts as a blue color, forming into a series of bubbles as hard as baseballs to delay and deflect the oncoming assault from a group of bystanders. It returns to clear as he rushes up to direct them away from the fighting. His orb converts from clear to a verdant green during the offensive, "Venenum. Dente. Persona." Rings like snakes wrap around, lashing out in a damage over time effect on the invaders that does not require him to continually put pressure out. "But that includes you, too," he adds in to rush over to another threatened group near Miki and Co.

    Merek looks to the strike that is coming his way, while he lifts up a hand and lets both of them strike him, doing their damage while red glow flickers along. "Peace? You are waging war on our people. Tell me, are you of the Uncrowned?" Then he takes the time to lift up a bow of magic while he swings a strike of that into the man, that arrow lighting the way to strike into him even while he pulls his sword from the hip and swings along with the power of light into the man! "I will protect the people of Yamato with the power that was given to me by the Goddess!"

Gwen had come to party on the beach today it would be good fun, she's finished selling all the beachwear she has planned on for the day. So the towering woman is out in a swimsuit. Thankfully one of her own design though it's pretty wild and does well to show off. Then again that's what you do at the beach right? Well, she'd been playing a bit with a ball when the bust of ice come.

"What the sam hill?!" She finds the Palace Land forces have turned up and are attacking a festival.

She's summons her sword and shield. There is no time to get into armour, so she must go on in the grand JRPG tradition of women fighting in Bikinis.

She sees the incoming attack from Shiyang, a split second before it hits. She gets her shield up and calls out "Lion Aegis"

A glowing crest of a Lion appears before Gwen which is just able to take the fireball and she turns her attention on the one who let it lose.

"So here you come..."

Gwen calls upon her powers wind dances about her and her wings flare out.

"DIVINE WIND!"

Then comes the powerful bolts of winds and sword strikes should Gwen get close enough to her attacker.

    "The desire to play is engrained in all of us. It's merely a matter of how hard we suppress it. And festivals have always been considered a sacred time, and a call to ease warfare. A shining light in the dark." Estelle replies, studying the four-tailed fox, her own trio swishing and swirling behind her. As the other vixen brandishes her own fan, the kitsune snaps hers into her hand and opens it, concealing her lips - and the soft, murmured words that play along them.

    "... oh ancient tortoise, dark and strong, I call forth the water's throng. Genbu of the North, bring up the sodden swarth." comes a chant after a... delay, the sodden sand beneath their feet and the waters of the ocean itself rising up in a spinning barrier around her. It doesn't stop the strike of that whirling tessen entirely, but it does defray it, weakening the blow significantly as it cuts across the fox in a line of angry red.

    "Oh Polaris, our guiding Light. Lead me through darkest night." The chant hands in the air, her parasol's canopy and its starry film gleaming - but nothing seems to happen, at first.

    Shirin looks Merek dead in the eye and is about to answer the question when he is hit with an arrow followed by the mans sword. It appears he is not going to get a chance to answer that question, but a moment ago he really was. Instead he stumbles back and takes a knee for the moment before he grits his teeth and shouts , "FOR MY QUEEN!" Raising one of his crossbows he releases the bolt and it passes through several layers of magic circles growing with each circle till it is a large arrow of light aiming at Merek.

    Merek will take the time to shift upon his heel while he comes around and lifts up his shield of power that shimmers with magic. It takes most of the strike of the shield, at least it will try while he will then take a moment to step back, while he lifts up a hand, "Fireball!" He seems to be shifting the power to weaken it, "Know when you are defeated. I will ask the answer when you are on the ground. I won't kill you though. Talk while you fight, are you with the Uncrowned?"

Goldenblade was working there. And Goldenblade is angry, charging the troops. There's a mixture of Races before her. All of them seem to read as Adventurers as she approaches. Swinging her blades around angrily, striking at them with rapid cutting sweeping motions. Red light across their bodies join the red indicators of the PvP actions taken against her.

A broad armored Were Fang Catape tries to block Goldenblade's path, bringing a long sword to bear, halting Goldenblade's attempt to tear into the rest of his allies, before swinging it at the fireball coming his way. He takes the brunt of Prophylaxis' attack, as it detonates against his blade and tears across some of his weaker nearby allies, as the magic attack is cut in twain - sending them shattering apart - only for the Were Fang to quaff a potion and regenerates part of his health, shattering the small vial to the ground.

The Were Fang then slowly starts 'falling' to one foot, his other foot stretching back. He draws his weapon back as it begins to glow blue. Behind him, two enchanters begin to quickly cast, sending multiple blue 'lights' upon his blade. And as the Catape Were Fang finishes preparing, almost leaning horizontally, he suddenly bursts forwards, an electrical dragon shape forming around his entire form as he blasts from point to point, trying to rip apart anyone he comes across. A wake of electrical blasts following him everywhere he goes. Searing apart tents and Shocking his opponents where he hits.

To the side of Goldenblade, he might catch sight of the glimmer of ice amidst the dark. As Rama jumps straight at an Adventurer's face, tearing a part of their cheek off and leaving a large frozen 'bloom' against their face, freezing them, before jumping to the next person. Only for a Salamander to jump out from the crowd and attempts to bring its large tail to bear and swat the Lynx into the midst of their allies.

"Take down the weak ones first!" The Salamander calls out. "And focus the healers and DPS first! Ignore the tanks where possible!" Before the man is forced to bring his hand forward and halted momentarily, as he and his allies are getting swarmed with serpentine rings, biting at their bodies and inflicting poisons. Mikage and Haru can see healers in the back immediately casting antidote spells, but this is keeping them from interfering with other spells!

The Salamander then brings his hand up, forming a large Fireball in his hand which quickly splits... and then splits again... it forms two, then four, then eight, until there are sixty-four large fireballs above his head, spinning in a strange formation... which he then throws forwards, sending straight upon his enemies. A sea of fire lighting up the sky as they fall upon the tents!

Daiyu catchs the tessen fan as it spins back to her clawed hand, only to narrow her gaze as Estelle opens her own. Strange, how what had been such a unique motiff in the Palace Lands, has proven to have someone with similar tastes here. It's both amusing, and slightly infuriating. Then she tilts her head a little at the chants. She has enough knowledge of Japanese folklore in addition to her native Chinese to pick up on the references being made, and then stars are also brought into it. "Interesting.. Do you perchance partake of the literary arts of some form?"

Though at the same time the Hulijing Were Fang also moves, graceful and flowing like the river, and just barely skimming away from where Estelle's mysterious power is going to hit. A wide sweep of one fan sends a chilling wind blowing at the other foxwoman... and then Daiyu opens a second matching fan in her other hand, having let her parasol close and slide down across her back. With both she makes a spinning slash towards Estelle, spirals of both fire and water whipping up around her as she does so.

Goldenblade seems to have a full mad on, now. Her Work has been interrupted. Not just any old work, but Work, which is more important. But they started this thing, Goldenblade's going to end it, possibly with a leg in two or three places. Not hers, mind. Someone's, though. Several someones, from the look of things. She snarls, "And do you know how hard it is to seal leather to plate?"

It seems, though, charging thoughtlessly into a crowd of enemies was a bad plan. Who knew? The Catape werefang slams her hard, and her HP drops preceptitiously as she finds herself laid out on the beach. "This is no time to get a tan," she grumbles, picking herself up and turning to find someone to attack. She takes a step in that direction.

And then grumbles again, and goes back to look for where her swords dropped. "They're around here someplace," she grumbles, but with the people charging back and forth and the shifting footwork kicking sand everywhere, she can't find them quickly. On the other hand, they're /her/ swords, so she takes a deep breath, concentrates, and two pillars of fire erupt from the sand, sadly not hurting any of the Palace Landers, and as it starts working, she reaches out and plucks them by the hilts. "All right," she mutters darkly. "It was clobbering time, right? Where was I?"

    Shirin avoids the bulk of the fireball with only a little scorching and he grins at Merek. " What makes you think I am just going to sit here on the beach and answer all your questions. I am a jackal not a rat." Then without another moment of waiting he fires into the air several rapid shots of cross bow bolts. Where they will hit no one knows, but Merek could risk them hitting innocents and give chase or Merek could be the hero and probably easily deflect them out of the air. Meanwhile Shirin activates his lightning step and dashes off towards the southwest, obviously hoping to get lost in the forest.

    Merek looks to the underhanded tactic which is being used when Shirin claims that he won't tell them what they want to know. And when he is beginning to fire towards people on the beach, the man lifts up his divine shield, while he places that to protect the people and will take all of the strikes that he can. While he protects the innocents along the beach, Shirin will probably be able to get away. Then he takes the time to charge back to the beach! The man will be escorting people away while he fights through anyone else that is coming by.

    Shiyang's soldiers are struck hard, first from a divine wind blast from Gwen, then a fiery slashing charge by Tenko. Either alone, they might have endured just fine. The blast of wind shatters their formation though, leaving them disoriented and damaged, and before they can recover they're rushed by a deadly adventurer. Both Gwen and Tenko can get through the squad, though they may risk getting surrounded as the squad recovers from the double assault.

    Shiyang herself seems unhurt by the attack on the squad, apparently protected both by the formation of soldiers and some amount of her own power. Duelling sword raised, she smiles as the pair of adventurers break through. "Let them!" she commands the squad, as they recover and move to flank. "By all means, let us go blade to blade. I've wanted to test the metal of these Yamato warriors myself!"

    And, apparently, the Salamander doesn't just chuck fireballs. She steps forward to face both adventurers with her single blade, her body moving into the opening position for a powerful sword Arte. Abruptly she slashes, a blur of movement, deadly gleaming steel and red, red violence in a series of cuts fast and hard enough to pierce steel!

    "Of course." The astral vixen comments, bobbing her head. "I've had an education in some ancient traditions, and the Heavens guide my steps from time to time. It's gotten me some looks, but I stand by it." She eyes the way that second fan snaps out, and gives a soft tsk. Especially as she sees the other fox's legs coil like that, silver gaze studying her stance for but a moment before she snaps out her next verse - even if she rushes it a bit, with the oncoming vulpine projectile; "From earth to heaven you stand, bridging firmament's stand. Implacable Mensa I do bind, spectral might with stone entwined."

    Sand turns to stone, bursting up to coccoon her in protective power to blunt the edge of those whirling blades - and give her enough time for her next spell, as her parasol snaps closed and her spread fan lifts towards the heavens. Or it would, if a sudden cold snap didn't strike the stone, weakening it as the fans and their other temperature extreme blow the barrier to pieces - red marks blazing across her pale skin from shrapnel. She still gets out her words, though, even if there's a hissing undercurrent. "Oh Symbol of the South, with your wings aflame, I guide you now with mortal aim. Cast down crimson feathers with searing blame, and show the world your boundless flame."

    A fiery projection appears above them, wings spread in searing majesty. And those burning feathers fall in a whirling storm, adding to the lingering heat already around the huli jing. "One must always pay attention to the past, especially in a world shaped by those legends."

"Understood." While Mikage isn't a pacifist by any stretch of the imagination, she can at least understand those who might not be willing to dive head-long into a fight. Though, she is a bit more used to hearing that sort of thing from the people in Moon Tree rather than those in Silver Sword.

Hearing the call focus from the enemy lines is enough to draw a growl from the Were Fang, her hand clenching on her bow as she looks towards the enemy. "Cowards." She mutters under her breath. In truth, it's smart tactics, but as someone who tends to throw herself in harm's way for others, it irritates her to see people picking on the weak.

Drawing an arrow from her quiver, Miki draws back Dawnbreaker, aiming towards the heart of the group coming from that nearest boat. Light seems to form around the tip of her arrow, swirling around it and glowing faintly. It seems to glow from within the heart of the blue gemstone within her Elemental Machine weapon.

Firing the arrow, it lands amongst the crowd, exploding with a burst of light upon impact.

Globes of intense flame rain down from the sky. Prophylaxis' eyes fix into a heated glare, glimmers of firelight reflecting in his gaze. Under his breath, he mutters a phrase that has become second nature to him by now. A wave of pale, glimmering light washes out and hardens into a globe of crystalline fire. Flame meets firewall, the two forces crashing against one another before dissolving in an inferno of light...

Leaving Prophylaxis standing there, unharmed.

"You want to focus down the healers, huh?" The doctor fumes, lifting his staff high. "Well. Let's give you something more pressing to worry about, shall we!?" The sharp scent of ozone begins to fill the air, roiling across the beach in an ominous wave as the clouds overhead darken and swallow up the moon...

Before disgorging several dozen columns of white-hot skyfire directly into the swarming Palace Landers, "Lightning, answer my call! Storm, gather into the maelstrom of battle!"

A furious blaze is cast from the heavens. A conflageration Daiyu has no hope of completely avoiding as it crashes down upon her, burning as brightly as any one of the stars Estelle oft gazes upon, engulfing her opponent. There might even be the briefest of dramatic moments one thinks the fiendish fox is struck down... but that is quickly dismissed when Daiyu comes leaping out of the inferno with embers trailing off her. She minimized how long she spent within the flames at least.

"Mayhaps in a different story we could of shared our interests." With frightening speed the vixen dashes towards the other. One fan is snapped shut, disappearing with her hand up the sleeve of her dress. "But in this dramatic tale, only one magical fox can prevail!" An arcane inscription flickers briefly on the other fan, causing sparks to arc along it as she swipes at Estelle with it.

It's quickly followed by her hand thrusting back out of her sleeve, now with a poisoned dagger aimed for the other vixen's midsection!

Enchantments -and- alchemy, the huli jing has no shortage of tricks literally up her sleeves.

Haru has his priorities and they don't appear to be one of seeking out killing other players. The time after the Landing incident has only given him more time to consider what is important. What you are willing to fight for, even if you are not a fighter by nature. It becomes more than empty words when fire and arrow make their way towards another group of Landers that were on their way out. Not a fighter, not a tank, but willing to lose some health as he places hands on two of the bystanders and catapults them out of the way with an searing arrow in his avatar to show for it.

The white haired Artificer looks at the assault squad a bit differently now. Not full yandere or edgelord, but his eyes have a certain 'Ill kill you' look to them as he pulls the arrow out. "Ignis," he drains the fire from the arrow and the heated chaos around him, "Sphera. Omnis." The sphere in Haru's hand glows like a hot ember, each chant putting a ring around it. The fire multiplies in size as it funnels into his other hand, launched in the tailwind of Miki's arrow to release a delayed explosion along with the light to annihilate anything in its wake.

    The obvious weapon is dealt with first, in Estelle's list of priorities - not with a proper defense, but by intercepting the tessen with her own fan. It still shocks her hand of course, leaving the limb numb, but it keeps that sharp edge from slashing along her flesh. And, unfortunately, leaves her open for the dagger to the gut, its poison seeping into her with another hiss. Especially as she can feel her HP slowly drain from the alchemical toxin. "Perhaps when things die down. This war won't last forever." She comments, hauling herself off the blade. "And we might run into each other in more neutral territory, besides."

    But, for now, they're still dealing with this fight. With the chaos all along the beach. "Monoceros." She incants, cutting the chants down to its barest form - and still being blessed by the constellations power, as the healing light settles in to counteract the poison. And then her parasol points low, at the sodden and shattered terrain around them. "The waters churn and crash, and from the depths many heads thrash. The Hydra rises from the deeps! Beware, beware, the breaking sweeps!"

    The spell isn't a proper summon, but it certainly has its appeal. The spray around them surges up, shaped into nine sweeping, biting heads as briny fangs seeks to perforate the Black Jade Fox, the rush of water emulating the roar of the fabled beast.

Gwen is pretty damn strong after all she didn't get blown away but what is this gal? She's not even sure as he comes at her, there' no mercy from this Salamander not that she expected any from the Palace Lands. She's hit hard by this strike even with triggering Anchor howl? It's not enough this time, she's able to not go down but she's been hurt and the are red jagged lines on her body form where he struck her. She's not dead however and she's looking ticked off as she launches herself at her foe counter-attacking a Sonic lunge of her own.

"SONIC LUNGE!"

"Always a possiblity," Daiyu concures, even as she steps back from her peculiar attack. With the dagger spent she redraws the second tessen, flicking it open. Flames crackle to life with it, even as she snaps it forward to intercept one of the watery heads, causing it to evaporate and send a burst of steam back at the fox it came from. With both fans in hand Daiyu twirls and swings, effectively out maneuvering the conjured strikes for the most part. "The future rarely makes it's path clear. Only by turning the pages forward do we discover what it holds."

This mystic fox seems to have a knack not only for fire and water, but using the opposing elements together. First in countering the strike made by the hydra visage with both a fiery deflect and her own fluid movements. Then once again by spinning to slice at Estelle, one fan crackling fire while the other sheens like watery surfaces.

    "There are ways to look ahead, but they're often unclear." The Astrologian admits, even as she dances back a few steps as those whirling fans come back into play. "And I must admit, your skills are rather artful. The blend of disciplines, the almost dancing motions of the two-tessen style..." There's a shake of her head, even as she takes a deep breath. She only has one response to that sort of thing, really. Admittedly, her most invoked constellation...

    "Scutum! Shield of the skies! I bear you now to protect my allies. A bulwark of stellar might, to guard in the darkest nights!" The full chant is invoked, fan spread to the side and parasol raised to the heavens. And the full chant brings the might of a bulwark intended for many down solely onto her - a thick barrier of silver light that rebuffs the combined attack of fire and water, and the burst of power created by their mixture. It gives the kitsune a chance to catch her breath, to steady herself as the Unicorn's lingering power defrays the last of the poison and starts in on her other injuries.

    "I'm Estelle, by the way. May I ask what your stake in all of this is...?"

Tenko finds herself being quickly outmatched. She thought she was one of the better swordswomen around, but this is insane. She does her best to fend off the attacks, and then leaps backwards, trying to put some space between herself and the Salamander, "You are quite formidable! Why are you attacking us!?" She calls out to Shiyang, "Our two sides could be working together towards a common goal!" She switches from her sword to her bow, nocking two arrows and letting them fly at the same time.

The Catape continues to sail through the area. As Goldenblade swings at the large Were Fang, blade clash, electric power rippling through Goldenblade, before they carry on and tear through another nearby Adventurer, shattering them apart and halting in the sands, a large wave of beach-sand spraying up, before they change direction and continue their electrical charge!

A few nearby Adventurers try to fire arrows at him, but they are torn apart as they near him by the electrical charge... only for Prophylaxis to bring the thunder down on his position! The violent scourge of lightning blasts upon his position, but the Catape tries to avoid the blows. Moving quickly from point to point, while other shocks tear down the Catape's personal squad. One member at a time as the Catape evades - trying to get an angle of attack on Prophylaxis and Goldenblade that puts him in a Linear path...

At the same time, on the other side of the battle, Mikage brings her bow to bear. The powerful Dawnbreaker cants the direction of the Salamander, who grins at her with a fierce wildness of someone who's seen many a battle before. He presses his feet to the ground and begins to slowly approach her with each step. Not quite like a sumo walk, but each step, he digs his claws in, waiting for her to fire her bow while approaching.

Some of his allies rush ahead, bringing up their blades, thinking that she'll only hit maybe one of two of them. Some of them bringing their shields up, only for those shields to /melt/ as Mikage fires her shot. The piercing light tears through the beach like a laser cutting through paper. The beam tears through a group of them, who were not aware of just how high level Mikage was - tearing their lives apart, before the arrow impacts into two hands of the Salamander!

He's pushed back, digging in! Gripping his claws into the sands. His tail pushing against the ground as the attack slowly loses its power and he closes his hands... until the light is shattered, and his allies lie fallen near him. The light of green healing magic quickly envelops the Salamander, but Mikage can tell she's significantly reduced their forces in that moment. But more than that, the light allowed her to see, much like the fireballs earlier, that their numbers are not 'large'. This seems to be a specialized squad, with elites at their head, but with weaker soldiers aiding them. By no means is this a conventional army composed in a way the Landers might compose their armies.

The Salamander has smoke coming from his nose; "It is called tactics. But clearly adjustments are needed when dealing with Overwhelming Enemies." The Salander points out, huffing smoke and considering Mikage for a while, narrowing his eyes. Only for Haru's attack to catch him by surprise. The suddenly sweep of red light that had hidden within the corona of Mikage's attack tears across the shoulder of the Salamander, tearing through before he can redirect the attack... only for it to detonate into the healers right behind the Salamander, leaving a smoking crater behind him.

The Salamander glances behind him, then to those before him. He's calculating the risk versus reward. Right now, they've still got the momentum, but he can see where this is about to go bad. Especially for him, since he's just lost his squad of healers. As such, the Salamander, marked as 'Middray', begins to slowly slink back to the boat, keeping his guard up and facing Mikage and Haru. Recognizing them as dangerous targets.

This however still leaves the Catape and Shiyang in that moment to continue the battle! And with Middray retreating, this leaves a larger gap for the Catape to overcome. The man halting for a moment, stabbing his blade into his sheath, halting for a second, as he brings out a much LARGER sword from his back. What looks like a Talwar almost is swung over his head like a tornado, before he rushes straight for Prophylaxis, seeking to cut with a sweeping motion right for his legs, before kicking him from behind.

The Catape moves to Goldenblade, seeking to use his enormous blade to test Goldenblade's, trying to hook and then /crush/ the weapon with a technique aimed at sword-breaking, before he moves for Haru and Mikage both in one sweep, halting about three meters from them and halting his entire momentum, causing an enormous welling of sand to burst out towards them, hiding the sharp shockwave of a slicing attack!

"I have both performed on stage and fought in the arena," Daiyu responds to the compliment. "One needs to be as graceful as they are dangerous to put on a proper display." There's crackles of flames and sloshes of water, but her elemental slashes do little to penetrate the defenses the astronomical kitsune has erected against the assault. Daiyu seems to gauge this as her movements shift her back a few steps away from the opponent. It gives her enough space to sweep one fan in front of herself and the other behind her back as she bows. "I am Daiyu. The Black Jade Fox of Kallamore Kingdom, of the Palace Lands."

As she stands the fans are folded up and tucked back within her sleeves. "As for my stake? I have seen what the reckless abandon of the violent and greedy can do. The harm it nearly caused the realm I now call home... I will not allow the Adventurers of your land bring more of the same chaos and destruction upon our realm." One hand reachs back to grab the handle of her parasol upon her back.

And pulls it free, revealing it to also be the hilt of a sword. A one-handed, quick and deadly dueling blade. Daiyu lunges forward with a thrusting strike, only to quickly follow with several quick slashes with the same graceful ease she weilded the tessen pair. While all the time making a high and throaty snarl. A sound, to another fox, is clearly a disruptive display of dominance.

Goldenblade is back into the mix now that she's got her swords back, and she looks around at the chaotic melee swirling all around her. Why is everyone fighting in her smithy while she's trying to work on a project!? "You!" she points at one group of Palace Landers. "What the hell? You think you're some damned big shot, coming to someone's beach, kicking sand in people's faces?" That was what bullies did at the beach in her day, anyhow.

Goldenblade brings her swords up and plants her feet, and in the face of the incoming attacks, bellows, "Come get some, you Palace Lands dirtbags!" Well, that's what passed for a harsh diss, back in the day. She sets her stance, blades flashing, taunting the Palace Landers and yelling at them for interfering with her work, which seems to be her largest hangup, right now. Her blazing blades leap out to parry and block incoming attacks almost like a parrying machine, and the blades don't come close to her, or at least not close enough to do damage. They obviously think they have a chance, because they keep trying.

Goldenblade will have to disabuse them of that hope as well. As the catape tries to smash her blades, she scoffs, "You can try that all day, chum, it won't work. But now watch this!" What /this/ is, is her striking one sword against the other honing one on the back of the other, and then doing it the other way around. Now both blades gleam dangerously, holding a wickedly keen edge that doesn't slow down for transient things like armor and flesh, slicing through as if they were soap bubbles, though sadly her enemies don't pop.

She is all kind of worked up, and it looks like she fully intends to take it out on these people. They are not required to like it. They are encouraged to dislike it. They are not given the choice. "This is what happens when you come to a man's house and throw beer cans on his lawn!" she shouts, lost in her own world at this point, just savagely wailing on the Palace Landers like savage beatings are going out of style. She seems to have a lot of them, and is getting rid of them as fast as she can.

The Salamander may be fuming, but Mikage's response is a show of her teeth, which are distinctly human in this form. Still, there is a threat there, of whatever monster lies beneath the surface. A monster that only a rare few have ever seen.

She doesn't need to tell Middray that his 'tactics' were bad in this situation, since his focus on the weaker enemies left him vulnerable to the heavier attacks that she and some of her fellow Adventurers could throw out.

Even so, she looks over to Haru, as if checking if they were okay first. There is no point in chasing down the retreating Palace Landers when some of their own were still in danger. "Looks like the others cound use a hand." Her attention is then seized by the CatApe coming their way. Her form seems to almost vanish into a bit of mist, the sand going right through it and landing on the ground as if she were never there in the first place.

When she is next seen, the Ranger is perched atop a nearby rock. "Rama, Blizzard Claw." She calls out. The cat, who had been keeping the other group occupied, can now return to the fray, leaping forward and lashing out with a roar that sounds distinctly monstrous. He's obviously channeling Mikage's inner monster in that moment, From where his claws are, a flickering form of ice talons emerges, lashing towards the CatApe.

    Defending against Tenko and Gwen both, Shiyang is struck several times despite managing to parry several of the blows. Her offense is spectacular, but her defense is no better than either of theirs, perhaps worse, though her health seems to be staying somewhat higher than her opponents' for now.

    Shiyang's actually rather impressed with Tenko's swordsmanship. Or swordswomanship as the case may be. Shiyang's attack is enhanced with Artes, and even then the Werefang almost managed to defend it. Skill for skill, Shiyang's not sure who would prevail even as she takes the upper hand in the skirmish. And so, in respect for her opponents and Tenko's words, she takes a shuffling step backwards to disengage and reply. "Because those are my orders." she replies simply. Tenko asked why she attacks, and that answer suffices. But perhaps out of respect, she decides to add more. "I would fight you regardless, of course, for my own reasons." the salamander adds. "But this assault was not my plan."

    So saying, Shiyang raises her fists before her, putting her blade out of line for the attack. Channeling fire, she wreathes her arms in white-hot flame, the flames licking up and surrounding the blade as well. "Withdraw." she orders her squad. "The adventurers here will save the rest of the targets we could have reached. We have no further objective here."

    The squad, who had been moving to surround Gwen and Tenko and hem them in from retreat, part at their leader's word and gesture, allowing the two adventurers a path to escape as well should they choose. Sun Tsu: always leave a foe a path to escape, lest they attack on desperate ground. Shiyang, however, brings her sword back in line. "Though I doubt these adventurers will allow us to withdraw quite so easily. What say you? Shall we test each other one more time?"

    Preparing to withdraw, Shiyang's fiery swordplay will be not quite so devastating as her previous attacks. Still kind of terrifying perhaps, but not as much as if she were standing ground or advancing against a demoralized foe.

    "Titled after your name? Interesting. Or is it written with the symbol for 'Water', instead of 'Black'?" Estelle can't help but ask, after that introduction - and a brief bow of her own. That speed and grace is something to be wary of, certainly, and she's circling back, still, trying to put a bit more distance between the two of them. She's the one that needs more time to pull out the big leagues, after all. And so even as the parasol is revealed to be something of a sword cane, she draws a deep breath and begins her Wave Art.

    ... though the gekker does bring out one of her own, even as the more injured of the pair. She can't help that brief distraction.

    "Corona Borealis, the regal crown of light. I take you up to draw down northern might." She starts, starts sparking into being above her head. Radiant, elegant, powerful. Wind curls around her, Light and Cold weaving together as the magic takes form. "I call upon the winds-"

    The rest of the chant will remain a mystery, though, as the artful, inhuman bladework carves her up and breaks her concentration. She can feel it this time, and feel the way Monoceros' light is carved out of her alongside her HP. It leaves her staggering, teeth grit and tails curling in a way that the other fox can read as submissive. Whether it was the gekker pushing her buttons and truly disrupting her, or just Daiyu's pure skill...

    ... she knows she's lost, and can't press the matter any further. A low whine consciously concedes the point, and that she's at the huli jing's mercy. "... elegantly done. It looks like I need to pay more attention to the subtleties of Sword Arts, and not just Wave Arts. As for the Chaos... I must admit some ignorance. I was swept up in a Mood during it all, called to seek and spread the enlightenment of the Heavens."

Haru is not uninjured. His health could be assessed as 'wounded' with the well defined blood along one arm that blots against his white shirt. The blue eyes are wider, more dialated, the sort of combat high after being away from the addiction for too long. The response to Mikage is non-verbal, the game face and the slight nod that has him rushing forward. It is an opportunity to cause disorder and a rift between the remaining adversaries and the Landers. The people that he is running past now as his orb begins to sink from its clear tones to a dark one. Dark as ink.

Know what goes great with ninja attacks? Darkness. Haru begins his lengthy chat as he rushes in on foot far into Miki's wake. "Tenebris. Consumptus. Somnia. Terrere. Veritas." The Artificer gets within range as five inky rings circle around his orb. The young man skids to a stop, raising the orb up as he throws a darkness zone to follow in the wake of Mikage's assault. "Nox. Aeternus." It descends like a dark tide from the shoreline, lapping against the sand and rising up line inverted rain making its way back up to the heavens in obsidian shards. One nightmarish landcape for brief time to enervate the enemy while sharpening a future attack in Dark magic.

When Estelle concedes the swordpoint is held dangerously close... if only for a moment before Daiyu pulls it away. "It benefits to consider both the mystical and the martial. To weave them together and present something greater than the sum." Instead the sword is turned and slid back into the shaft of her parasol. Which is then opened and rested to her shoulder as it had been. "Your performance was... passable, save the ending." This was a show of force and intent for their forces, she has no need to completely strike out an opponent that has surrendered.

A head tilt at the 'Mood' explaination. Normally she'd say something about ignorance not being an excuse, but... "Then best you get yourself reaquainted, my dear kitsune. Before the next chapter turns out to be your last."

With that she swishes her tails and turns, seeming to fade into the shadows and out of sight as she walks away from the beach. A little extra dark magic to ensure she's not followed.

Rage is a terrifying thing. It can drive even the kindest of men to commit horrible acts for the sake of slaking that coal-black flame that clutches tight at the heart. Prophylaxis spits a curse as the evident mastermind of this particular attack slips away from the battlefield, another more potent word almost splitting his lips when the catape darts towards him. The doctor's spell is cut short just as that massive sword carves into him. He staggers back, evidently ripe for a leg-sweep...

...Only for his feet to /freeze solid/ to the ground. "No," the doctor growls, a shell of bitter ice creeping up his ankles and up over his bare legs, "No I think this has gone on for long enough."

The Palace Landers were swift in their assault, taking advantage of a brief moment of rest to attack Yamato's adventurers in the one place that /should/ be relatively safe for them. But they also showed their cards weeks ago, proving that, to them, this is war.

And so Prophylaxis feels no guilt for what he does next.

A wave of cold pulses out from the doctor's position, turning brine to salty sea ice in a flash of wintery wind. The unexpected transition of temperatures serves to distract and shock. The barrage of icy bolts that follows is meant to injure and maim, but more importantly...

To disguise the glassy syringes that sail through the air and into several of the Palace Landers.

...Administering a bevy of potent debuffs in the process, but the most important being a powerful paralysis effect combined with a sleep toxin.

The Doctor's eyes are as cold as the ice he summons, "You may try to run, but not all of you will succeed. Your people are not the only ones who know how to wage war."

    There is a long moment of worry, as that swordpoint hovers near her throat. The Diviner has tasted death once, after all, and she isn't eager to do so again... but then it pulls away, and she's left seated in the sand, staring up at the four-tailed fox. Her dark ears twitch at her performance being called 'passable' - as a support class, she's admittedly surprised she's lasted so long, especially with the explosions and sweeping Arts that have culled both sides all along the beach, as they had their duel.

    ... still, she concedes once more at the need to learn more in depth about the situation. "Ignorance isn't bliss." She agrees softly, studying Daiyu's back as the other vixen turns to leave. She waits a breath, two... and then forces herself back to her feet. At least the poison has run its course, even if she has to call upon Monoceros once more - fully invoking its 'healing horn' - to keep herself safe from the aftermath and collatoral of the continuing battle.

    Silver eyes sweep the area once more, and then the fox practically limps away, knuckles white where she holds her fan and parasol.

The Catape which Goldenblade aims at is cut by her blades, the red gleam on his body showing as he turns and moves towards Mikage and Haru in that moment. His armor shattering partially as a result of Goldenblade's strike, but this just seems to speed the lightning wielding sword specialist!

The Catape is halted however, with his sweeping blow at Mikage. His eyes seeking for the red glow of damage through the shockwave of sand. Only to find a Lynx jump out at him. He grabs the feline by the chest as it scratches his arm, freezing it as he presses the cat to the ground and pushes it down, using the frost on his hand to ensure that grip remains 'frozen' on the cat as he brings his other hand up with the blade...

Only for the darkness of Haru's attack to land near him. The inverted rain rising, weakening his grip on the cat. And just as his blade is about to come down, the Lynx manages to squirm out from underneath and bites the Catape on the nose before getting out of dodge! He does manage to quickly swing his blade, intercepting the icicle syringe before glaring at Prophylaxis. Kolderim watches as some of his allies fall to the paralytic effect. He sees one of his allies quickly stab one of the others - who looks like some kind of messenger class - shattering them and killing them themselves. Clearly, there's organization here. They know what to do if a capture attempt is made.

Some of them, Adventurers, remain however as Kolderim begins to retreat, moving up with Shiyang, shifting along with the fighting retreat of his ally and defending him with broad and heavy strikes against anything that comes his way.

Gwen looks at the fight this Shiyang is a very dangerous foe indeed. She's being pushed hard and order her troops to flee. Part of her wants to go after this one. Yet that's not a good call to Gwen. There's no way they could outright drop her. So there's no point there are people to protect as well. She wants to fight this person badly but there are people of the land in the mix here who do not deserve this. With Shiyang forcing a heavy attack on her she's forced to fend it off.

"Tenko we have other things to do than engage a ganker whose pulling out."

The towering bikini-clad Gwen is not attacking now she's backing off moving to break off to see where else she might be of use to help people get away as it seems Shiyang is planning to leave and that's the best call she can make.

Doing her best to fend off the attacks once again, Tenko manages to keep herself from taking too many hits this time, as she drops back into a defensives stance and then lets Gwen take over tanking once again.

Tenko wouldn't use the term ganker, because that's not a very RP friendly term. But she nods in response to Gwen, "Normally I would agree, however these unprovoked attacks cannot be unpunished. Take a message back to your masters then!"

All three of her tails flare up, and fire encircles all of them, before she unleashes her foxfire attack in the direction of the retreating Palace Landers, "Yamato will not be so easily taken!"

"Rama!" Mikage calls out, that moment of panic when her animal companion is in danger. Some people might think it strange to worry so much about what amounts to an NPC, but the closeness between the two is obvious. Even without that, animal handlers and monster handlers do fight as one with their pets, including sharing a health bar.

She snarls, ready to dive into close-combat with the CatApe, when Haru's attack gives enough of an opening for her lynx to escape. Glancing over at the crafter, she gives him a nod of appreciation.

The lynx races towards her even as the other group moves to withdraw, her eyes turning a concerned look towards the strange attack that Prophylaxis used. She doesn't quite understand what happened there, so she just looks questioningly towards the good doctor.

Then, pressing her lips into a line, she ruffles Rama's fur, comforting the cat. "Let's spread out, check the surrounding area. They might have tried to land other forces while were busy here. We should make sure everyone who fled towards Alne managed to get there in one piece."

    Shiyang's squad, carefully chosen for a broad variety of talents rather than raw firepower, go into action as their leader begins her retreat. Shields raise, spears go into defensive formation. Several of the casters chant. One casts stoneskin, hardening the front-liners and Shiyang herself to reduce the effectiveness of incoming attacks. Shiyang herself quickly chugs from some sort of flask then spits it out over her sword, which ignites the drink. A cone of flame fans out, pooling on the ground and sticking there like tar, blazing with heat. A third caster summons smoke, a fourth whips up the winds.

    By the time the smoke clears and the fires are low enough to cross, there's no sign of the red-clad Palace Land skirmisher force or their crown-wearing Salamander leader. Only ashes.

So they're killing anyone who might have anyone who seems to be in danger of being captured, is it? The doctor's cold stare doesn't flinch at the sight, except for the hardening of the anger that seems to burn from the very depths of his gaze. But there are still those who were left behind. Mostly rookies, but even rookies can still be useful.

"Bind them," Prophylaxis directs to one of the Scale Emblem members nearby. "Remove their gear. I also want them grilled for whatever information they might be privy to. Get them talking about their life before the wave. I want to know how much they remember."

If anything at all...

Ugh, and he thought tonight was going to be a relaxing evening at the beach...

Gwen does let lose with one last attakc but ther eis time to move off she does look to Tenko nodding in agreement. She also thinks the time for fun is over doing events like this would make the people going to them targets. she frowns and then will pull back to go off Mikage's idea to spread the heck out and make sure there's nothing else going on. There are also matters for Gwen's guild their HQ was closish to here. It's likely going to be targeted soon and she was concerned about it.

Goldenblade has, in her only semi-coherent beatdown party, come up behind Catape as he went after Haru and Mikage. Is she not enough of a threat? Too much healer aggro? Well, blow that for a game of soldiers. She'll show Catape exactly how much of a threat she is, blades cutting and biting, slashing, seeking, stabbing and taking the life out of Palace Landers who spend too much time within reach of her swirling blades. "Yo, ugly," she taunts him. But he's backing down, now, not wanting any more of that. There's still one clump of Palace Landers on the beach, though. She turns on Shiyang's group, then, as the last Palace Lander squad standing, but she's not in a strange enough mood to walk through /that/ inferno, and she will not contest them backing down.

As Proph deals with his prisoners, Goldenblade will try to salvage what she can from her wrecked wagon. It looks burned, the grunty's traces snapped. It's either run off or been killed. The cart is, with a savage grunt, lifted about four inches, then allowed to flop where it was. Even without the weight of the forge ... well, she'd never get the forge back in it, anyhow, not without a team and pulleys and ropes. But she can collect up the armor pieces she can find and stuff them into her inventory, at least. So, as everyone else is doing important things, she's crawling around in the sand looking for things that got blown up, kicked around, and buried under the sand. Is she going to have to invent the metal detector?